Psalms 37:23

37:23 The Lord grants success to the one

whose behavior he finds commendable. ¹ 

Jeremiah 10:23

10:23 Lord, we know that people do not control their own destiny. ² 

It is not in their power to determine what will happen to them. ³ 

Daniel 5:23

5:23 Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. You brought before you the vessels from his temple, and you and your nobles, together with your wives and concubines, drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone – gods ⁴  that cannot see or hear or comprehend! But you have not glorified the God who has in his control ⁵  your very breath and all your ways!

Acts 17:28

17:28 For in him we live and move about ⁶  and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.’ ⁷ 

[37:23]  ¹ tn Heb “from the Lord the steps of a man are established, and in his way he delights.” The second line qualifies the first. The man whose behavior is commendable in God’s sight is the one whose ways are established by God. Another option is that the second line refers to the godly man delighting in God’s “way,” namely the lifestyle which he prescribes for men. In this case one might translate, “The Lord grants success to the one who desires to obey his commands.”

[10:23]  ² tn Heb “Not to the man his way.” For the nuance of “fate, destiny, or the way things turn out” for the Hebrew word “way” see Hag 1:5, Isa 40:27 and probably Ps 49:13 (cf. KBL 218 s.v. דֶּרֶךְ 5). For the idea of “control” or “hold in one’s power” for the preposition “to” see Ps 3:8 (cf. BDB 513 s.v. לְ 5.b[a]).

[10:23]  ³ tn Heb “Not to a man the walking and the establishing his step.”

[5:23]  ⁴ tn Aram “which.”

[5:23]  ⁵ tn Aram “in whose hand [are].”

[17:28]  ⁶ tn According to L&N 15.1, “A strictly literal translation of κινέω in Ac 17:28 might imply merely moving from one place to another. The meaning, however, is generalized movement and activity; therefore, it may be possible to translate κινούμεθα as ‘we come and go’ or ‘we move about’’ or even ‘we do what we do.’”

[17:28]  ⁷ sn This quotation is from Aratus (ca. 310-245 b.c.), Phaenomena 5. Paul asserted a general relationship and accountability to God for all humanity.